The Prevalence of Workaholism: A Survey Study in a Nationally Representative Sample of Norwegian Employees

Workaholism has become an increasingly popular area for empirical study. However, most studies examining the prevalence of workaholism have used non-representative samples and measures with poorly defined cut-off scores. To overcome these methodological limitations, a nationally representative survey among employees in Norway (N = 1,124) was conducted. Questions relating to gender, age, marital status, caretaker responsibility for children, percentage of full-time equivalent, and educational level were asked. Workaholism was assessed by the use of a psychometrically validated instrument (i.e., Bergen Work Addiction Scale). Personality was assessed using the Mini-International Personality Item Pool. Results showed that the prevalence of workaholism was 8.3% (95% CI = 6.7–9.9%). An adjusted logistic regression analysis showed that workaholism was negatively related to age and positively related to the personality dimensions agreeableness, neuroticism, and intellect/imagination. Implications for these findings are discussed

Shelf life modeling of bakery products by using oxidation indices

The aim of this work was to develop a shelf-life prediction model of lipid-containing bakery products. To this purpose (i) the temperature dependence of the oxidation rate of bakery products was modeled, taking into account the changes in lipid physical state; (ii) the acceptance limits were assessed by sensory analysis; and (iii) the relationship between chemical oxidation index and acceptance limit was evaluated. Results highlight that the peroxide number, the changes of which are linearly related to consumer acceptability, is a representative index of the quality depletion of biscuits during their shelf life. In addition, the evolution of peroxides can be predicted by a modified Arrhenius equation accounting for the changes in the physical state of biscuit fat. Knowledge of the relationship between peroxides and sensory acceptability together with the temperature dependence of peroxide formation allows a mathematical model to be set up to simply and quickly calculate the shelf life of biscuits

The evaluation of work stress through an integrated approach: The role of organizational and individual variables.

This study takes the move from the perspective of the integration of work stress evaluation methods, needed in order to contain the common method variance and the effect of individual variables in subjective measures. The aim of this study is to detect the antecedents of psycho-physical symptoms of work stress, in terms of both individual and organizational characteristics, through an integrated approach based on a new scale of mental and physical strain specifically developed by physicians. The study was conducted on health care workers of an Italian organization (n = 410), to whom the scale mentioned above and a subjective assessment instrument were administered. The analyses show how the presence of prior pathology is a risk factor in relation to the psychological and physical strain. Furthermore, some specific individual characteristics, such as gender, as well as some organizational ones, such as a pathological work/life conflict and workload, are also risk factors in relation to the psychological and physical strain. The analyses also show how other factors such as the age, the consumption of alcohol between meals, the quality of the relations with colleagues, and the characteristics of the workplace are relevant as protective factors. The adoption of an integrated approach allows one to enrich and deepen the evaluation of work stress, highlighting the importance of the inclusion of a specific evaluation carried out by the physician in the broader process of work stress assessment

Attitudine alla trasformazione di mele di culrtivar autoctone del Friuli Venezia Giulia

L\u2019obiettivo della ricerca \ue8 stato quello valutare l\u2019attitudine alla trasformazione di mele di cultivar autoctone del Friuli Venezia Giulia. La prima parte della sperimentazione \ue8 stata dedicata alla valutazione delle caratteristiche compositive e funzionali strettamente connesse alla trasformazione della materia prima. Allo scopo sono stati considerati sia i frutti raccolti nel 2004 che quelli della raccolta 2005. Nella seconda parte del lavoro, i frutti appartenenti alle cultivar selezionate sulla base dei risultati precedenti sono stati utilizzati per produrre derivati di mela, quali puree e nettari, le cui caratteristiche qualitative sono state poste a confronto con quelle di derivati ottenuti dalla cultivar Golden Delicius. I risultati ottenuti lasciano prefigurare la possibilit\ue0 di utilizzare alcune variet\ue0 di mele autoctone per la produzione di puree e nettari con caratteristiche sensoriali comparabili se non superiori ai prodotti ottenuti da Golden Delicious. Inoltre, non \ue8 da escludere che alcune delle variet\ue0 considerate possano trovare impiego come ingredienti funzionali destinati all\u2019ottenimento di prodotti dai forti connotati salutistici

Il metodo V.I.S. Guida operativa e schede di indicatori

Il Metodo V.I.S. (Valutazione per Indicatori di Stress) - che si fonda sull'approccio psicologico, su quello ergonomico e su quello della medicina del lavoro, ed in particolare sui modelli previsionali di quest'ultima - ha l'obiettivo di valutare e prevenire il distress, da cui possono derivare gravi effetti negativi sia per le organizzazioni, quali ridotta qualit\ue0 del lavoro, assenze e turnover, sia per i singoli in termini di disagio e patologie. Il Metodo si colloca all'interno della normativa vigente, D.Lgs. 81/08 e successive modifiche e integrazioni, Circolare del Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali del 18/11/2010 (La Valutazione del Rischio da Stress Lavoro-Correlato - D.LGS. 81/08 e successive integrazioni e modifiche - Circolare del Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali del 18/11/2010)